Roberts scores 31 as Dayton dumps Pittsburgh

Dec 30, 2007 - 6:52 AM
DAYTON, Ohio (Ticker) -- It may have been more than two decades
later, but Dayton once again rudely hosted a top-10 team.

Brian Roberts tied a season high with 31 points as the Flyers
dumped sixth-ranked Pittsburgh from the ranks of the unbeaten
with an 80-55 rout on Saturday.

Marcus Johnson had 15 points and Kurt Huelsman added 12 for
Dayton (11-1), which won its 10th straight game.

"Dayton played very well," Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said.
"Give them a lot of credit on how they played, how they
performed. They shot it well.

"We didn't play well, they played well and they deserved to win.
We knew what this was coming into it. It's a tough place to
play and a very good team."

For the Panthers to be making the trip to Dayton Arena was a
rare occurrence, as it was the first time the Flyers hosted a
team in the top 10 since No. 3 DePaul traveled here on February
18, 1984.

Dayton squeezed out a 72-71 upset in that previous game, a feat
that was definitely overshadowed by the sheer dominance of its
latest win.

"This is just another building block in what we're trying to
build," Dayton coach Brian Gregory said. "It's a good block, a
big block, but it's just one. And we need to continue to do
that."

The contest was a back-and-forth affair early until the Flyers
took control behind Roberts, who scored 12 straight points for
his team to open up a 36-26 advantage with 3:03 remaining in the
first half.

"I had to come out and be aggressive," Roberts said. "We had to
be as aggressive as we could be and that's our key. Pittsburgh
is a great team. They came out and played tough. We knew coming
in we had to out-tough them and play just as tough. I'm just
proud of the effort everybody showed."

Roberts, who scored 19 points in the opening 20 minutes, capped
his first-half heroics with a 3-pointer in the closing moments,
giving Dayton a 45-33 lead at intermission.

"Brian Roberts was phenomenal," Gregory said. "I don't even
know if that's a good enough word. He controlled the game from
the start to the end. I've been saying for a long time that
he's the most efficient guard in the country, but now I think
he's becoming one of the best guards in the country."

The tide continued to go against Pittsburgh (11-1) in the second
half, as point guard and third-leading scorer Levance Fields
suffered an ankle injury running into a cheerleader following a
driving layup attempt with 15:45 remaining.

The junior, who hit a game-winning 3-pointer to beat Duke in
overtime in the Panthers' previous game on December 20, had to
be helped from the court and did not return after going to the
locker room.

"(Levance Fields) never got in rhythm, and that was good for us,
because he's really good," Gregory said. "I told Jamie, he's
the closest thing I've seen to Mateen Cleeves in college
basketball. He makes every big shot and he's a good leader. I
hope he's alright."

With its floor leader sidelined, Pittsburgh continued to
struggle, falling behind, 60-44, on another 3-pointer by Roberts
with 11:01 remaining. Dixon shared in his team's frustrations,
getting a technical for stepping onto the court while arguing a
call with 9:59 to go.

The technical only added to Pittsburgh's problems, as Dayton
later went on a 19-5 spurt for an 80-50 cushion with 4:19 to
play. Roberts had eight points during the run.

The senior guard, who also had 31 in a season-opening win over
East Tennessee State on November 10, shot 10-of-17 from the
field with five 3-pointers.

Sam Young had 15 points and Fields finished with 13 for the
Panthers, who shot 30 percent (19-of-64), including 3-of-25 on
3-pointers.

"The numbers weren't good looking at our offense," Dixon said.
"Our offense wasn't great. We could have played better on the
offensive end and credit them for their defense. They did a
great job, played hard and defended well."